Minimum wage hasn't kept pace with the cost of living across Canada, new reports show

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Of the 59 cities and regions in reports for every province reviewed by CBC News, none had a provincial minimum wage equal to the calculated living wage — the amount a full-time worker needs to meet their basic needs, manage unexpected expenses and participate meaningfully in their community.

Minimum wage hasn't kept pace with the cost of living across Canada amid high food prices, rents and other everyday necessities, according to a series of new reports.

Of the 59 cities and regions in the reports for every province reviewed by CBC News, none had a provincial minimum wage equal to the calculated living wage — the amount a full-time worker needs to meet their basic needs.

A gap between the two wages means a person working full-time at minimum wage would not be able to cover their basic expenses. Some of the widest gaps were found in Alberta, which has the lowest minimum wage in the country, and in parts of Nova Scotia, where living wages were driven up in some areas by significant rises in rental costs.

Brandon, Man., had just a $1 gap between its estimated $17.40 living wage and $16.40 provincial minimum wage, according to data published by the Manitoba Federation of Labour on Sept. 28. But on the other end of the spectrum, Montreal; Halifax; the northern peninsula of Labrador; Banff, Alta.; and Whitehorse had some of the widest gaps, each between $12 and $14.

Taken as a whole, the data suggests the wage floor has been permitted to "lag considerably" behind the cost of providing for the basic necessities of life, says Tom McDowell, a lecturer in politics and public administration at Toronto Metropolitan University.

"The minimum wage is a political measure that is largely disconnected from the actual costs of living," McDowell, who researchers living wage and basic income, told CBC News.

"The failure of the minimum wage to keep up with the rising costs of essentials can help to explain why so many households today are falling short on basic needs."

A living wage represents the hourly income required to cover basic expenses like shelter, food, transportation and child care, with enough buffer to avoid chronic financial stress and manage unexpected expenses, and to participate meaningfully in society — all based on the actual costs in that person's community.

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